


Late Night with the Kids

by isabeau25



Series: Wander Home [22]
Category: Epic (2013)
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 17:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1478389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabeau25/pseuds/isabeau25
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronin is a good dad, even in the middle of the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night with the Kids

Esme gave a fussy cry, protesting the idea of sleep, never mind the late hour. Ronin held her against his shoulder, patting her back, enjoying the warm weight of his daughter in his arms, even if she was keeping him up. Tara had already fed her, and when even that hadn’t been enough to settle her, Ronin had taken her out to the living room so Tara could sleep. Ronin had to admit, even if it was only to himself, he missed Nod being small enough to hold. It was nice to have a little one in his arms again.

At the sound of shuffling Ronin looked up, spotting Nod in the hallway, hair sticking up in every direction and rubbing his eyes blurrily.

“Did Essie wake you up?” Ronin gave him a bemused smile; it wouldn’t have been the first time if she had.

“No,” Nod shook his head, looking slightly lost for a moment.

“Bad dream?” Ronin asked gently.

Nod had had a few nightmares after the mess with the pod, but he hadn’t had one for a while.

“I don’t think it was,” Nod finally moved, coming to sit on the couch and slump against Ronin’s shoulder.

Esme whimpered, and Nod reached over sleepily to stroke the back of her fisted hand with a finger. Ronin rested his cheek against Nod’s hair and waited. Nod would either fall back to sleep or start talking.

The baby quieted, and the silence stretched long enough that Ronin thought Nod had drifted off. He had just shifted Esme to cradle in the crook of his arm when Nod stirred.

“Do you know what my parents looked like?”

Ronin blinked, caught off guard by the question. Nod had never asked him anything about his parents. He didn’t remember them at all, and he seemed to have a peculiar disconnect where they were concerned. Ronin wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. Nod’s parents had loved him; they had died to protect him, and that was something worth remembering. On the other hand, he couldn’t miss people he didn’t remember.

“No,” Ronin shook his head, “Nim told me about them, but I never saw the scrolls.”

“Oh,” Nod reached over to tuck Esme’s blanket more snuggly around her.

“You have Tuesday off, yeah?” Ronin asked, “I can take the afternoon off, and we can go to the Stump if you want. Nim will be able to find scrolls with your parents so you can see them.”

Nod hesitated, then nodded against Ronin’s shoulder, “I’d like that.”

Nod went quiet again, reaching over sleepily to let Esme latch onto his finger when she stretched her hands out. The baby fell asleep holding onto Nod’s finger, and Nod fell asleep against Ronin’s shoulder, and Ronin decided this was most definitely worth being tired in the morning for.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the last piece that I actually have written. That means that from now on updates will be much, much more sporadic and no longer in chronological order (although they'll be in order on the series page of course). Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read these little snippets. I really appreciate it.


End file.
